Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Ashford has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Measured by household income, Ashford is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Ashford has 488 jobs, against 1,660 working residents. For jobs and income Ashford is better than 67% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Ashford apart
How Ashford earns its Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Ashford’s grade up ($121,926, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashford could be anywhere from B− to A+.
The daily trip from Ashford: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashford workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,510 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Ashford on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,510 residents head out to work, 150 work right here, and 338 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Ashford on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Mansfield
Where Ashford clocks in
11% of workers
6% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Ashford
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashford, 2013 → 2023: 467 → 488. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ashford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Ashford commutes less than 18 miles
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Ashford walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,870 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.2% of Ashford households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ashford’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,382nd of 4,039: where Ashford ranks among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Bethany CT | 5,339 | $166K | 2.3% | 1.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Andover CT | 3,173 | $135K | 1.8% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | East Granby CT | 5,432 | $121K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,380 | Chelsea MI | 5,424 | $72K | 4.1% | 4.9% | 17% | B+ |
| 1,381 | Lake City MN | 5,306 | $72K | 5.9% | 0.6% | 37% | B+ |
| 1,382 | Ashford CT | 4,265 | $122K | 5.4% | 7.3% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,383 | Pittston ME | 3,418 | $87K | 10.2% | 0.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,384 | University Center VA | 3,923 | $121K | 13.1% | 5.6% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ashford, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
The towns around Ashford
The biggest share goes to Willington (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford | – | B+ | D | 34 min | $121,926 |
| Eastford | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 35 min | $97,422 |
| Willington | 4% | A− | D | 26 min | $91,114 |
| Chaplin | under 3% | A− | C− | 32 min | $97,846 |
| Union | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Union: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ashford’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ashford: questions
What is the median household income in Ashford?
$121,926 (±$22,964) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashford?
5.4%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashford?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashford work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mansfield (11%, 8 mi), Windham (6%, 13 mi), Willington (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashford walkable?
Ashford is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ashford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ashford
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.